Nn Man Booked In Contract Killing

NEWPORT NEWS — A 30-year-old Newport News man was working as a hit man when he murdered Curtis Cutchin Saturday for thousands of dollars, police said.

Donald A. Baines, who lives in the 800 block of 36th Street, was arrested Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. and charged with capital murder and use of a firearm, said Lt. Carl Burt.

Police will not release the exact amount involved in the contract hire but say it was well over $1,000. The killing appears to be drug-related, said Burt.

Baines was hired by local residents this month to knock off Cutchin, and other arrests are pending, he said.

Cutchin, 27, was standing on the corner of 26th Street and Marshall Avenue Saturday when he was approached by a group of men. He and Baines went behind a nearby building where the shooting occurred, Burt said.

``It is very infrequent that we would encounter someone who was hired to kill another person,'' Burt said. ``Most homicides we encounter are the results of arguments and drugs.''